We headed out to the desert with the intention of visiting the Salton Sea, but halfway into the trip we decided that the inner desert was quite hot and chose to find a hike in the Anza Borrego area. We had stumbled on Box canyon last time and decided to take more time exploring Rainbow canyon. This picture shows how the canyon got its name with the swirled sediments, pegmatite and granite veins.
Many cactus are flowering in early May after the modest winter rain showers. Shown here in the foreground is a flowering nipple cactus. Additionally, many barrel cactus were shining their halo of yellow bloom. Hedgehog cactus with its lower profile was making itself obvious with its bright magenta flowers.
I’m not sure where aspargus is grown in California, but it’s not in this desert. This is the beginning of the agave’s flower stalk. Already, this flower’s stalk was twelve feet tall. On this day, we saw stalks with white flowers and for the first time, yellow flowers.
